Łapy

Łapy is a town in north-eastern Poland, in Białystok County, Podlaskie Voivodeship; the administrative centre of the urban-rural gmina Łapy. It is situated in the North Podlasie Lowland, on the river Narew.

According to data from 31 December 2010, the town had 16,049 inhabitants.

Situated here are the bankrupt Railway Fleet Repair Works, a dairy, and the sugar refinery closed in February 2008. Now, Łapy is a medical and educational centre for the region of the former Łapy county.

Location
The town of Łapy is located in north-eastern Poland. According to Kondracki's division of Poland into physico-geographical regions, the town of Łapy sits on North-Podlasie Plain, over the Upper Valley of Narew. The town of Łapy lies by the Narew river. The terrain is elevated here from 120 to 130 metres.

Included in Białystok agglomeration, the town is situated in the buffer zone of Narew National Park.

According to data from 1 January 2010, the town area then was 12.14 km2.

Between 1954 and 1975 Łapy was the administrative centre of Łapy County of Białystok Voivodeship. Between 1975 and 1998 the voivodeship was smaller.

Residential areas


Presently Łapy comprises the following parts:
 * Barwiki
 * Bociany
 * Goździki
 * Leśniki
 * Osse
 * Wity
 * Wygwizdowo
 * Zięciuki

Foundation
The name 'Łapy' is of Masovian origin, and it initially represented a soubriquet of the kin, who founded the settlement on Narew. A legend links the foundation of the town with the nobleman Łappa of the Lubicz coat of arms, who settled down here during the 15th-century Masovian colonisation.

The first historical records of these lands come from the early 13th century. It is known that in 1375 Płonka Kościelna was an independent parish. Firstly Łapy was a backwater where the gentry cultivated patriotic traditions. Soon as a result of the village's development, new settlements emerged on the eastern and the western banks of the river Narew, which was a water trade route from Suraż to Gdańsk in 16th and 17th centuries, and after World War II from Puszcza Białowieska to Tykocin; and at the east side of the high road from Suraż to Płonka.

Expansion
Following the expansion of the family, a series of backwaters were founded, including Rechy, Brusięta, Barwiki, Korczaki, Pluśniaki, Wągle, Wity, Zięciuki, Kosmyki, Łazie, Stryjce, Wojtysze. Some of those names disappeared replaced by others, such as: Goździki, Dębowizna, Bociany, Leśniki. After the Third Partition of Poland, in 1795, Łapy fell to the Prussian Partition. In 1807, after the Tilsit Peace Treaty, it became a part of the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw, and after its dissolution, in 1815, it passed to so-called Congress Poland in the Russian Partition of Poland. An important event for the future history of Łapy was Napoleonic army's marching through twice in 1812. In the 1820s the backwaters had 1000 inhabitants and 180 houses. In 1825, a fusion of six backwaters (Łapy-Barwiki, Łapy-Leśniki, Łapy-Zięciuki, Łapy-Wity, Łapy-Goździki, Łapy-Bociany) produced the farm settlement of Łapy.

Industrialisation
Łapy owes its development to the Saint Petersburg–Warsaw Railway with a station here, opened on 15 December 1862, and to the French having built here the works for repairing steam locomotives and carriages the same year. That caused an influx of tradesmen and labourers not only from the nearby villages, but also from distant Polish locations and from the Russian Empire.

In the beginning of the January Uprising, the railway station was captured by a Polish insurgent detachment of Władysław Cichorski nom de guerre "Zameczek" on the night of January 22–23, 1863, and then recaptured by the Russians on January 27, 1863. Further clashes between Polish insurgents and Russian troops were fought in Łapy on July 11 and 18, 1863. Following World War I, Poland regained independence and control of Łapy.

The repair works exist today as 'ZNTK Łapy S.A.' They played a decisive role in Łapy's urbanization, the town charter granted on 1 January 1925.

At the eve of the German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in 1939, the town population reached 8,000 citizens. Following the invasion, Łapy was first occupied by the Soviet Union until 1941, and then by Germany until 1944, when it was finally restored to Poland. During the war, the town was 80% destroyed, and the entire local Jewish population was murdered by the German occupiers in the Holocaust.

Roads
There are two voivodeship roads crossing the town:
 * Roszki-Wodźki – Łapy – Brańsk – Ciechanowiec
 * Łapy – Markowszczyzna

Furthermore, the national road runs 19 km to the north, being upgraded to  express-way.

Railway
There are two railway routes going through the town:
 * Saint Petersburg–Warsaw Railway (Białystok – Warszawa)
 * Łapy – Ostrołęka (partly out of order)

Łapy hosts a railway station for all kinds of trains, which is situated in the town centre; and a railway stop Łapy Osse for slow trains only, in the Osse quarter, 3 km from the centre.

Łapy's railway destinations are numerous: Bielsko-Biała, Warszawa, Suwałki, Białystok, Wrocław, Opole, Częstochowa, Kraków, Szczecin, Poznań.

Bus services
There are many small PKS bus stops and the main one – Łapy, next to the railway station building in the centre, from which local lines operate in the directions of Białystok, Zambrów, Siemiatycze, Bielsk Podlaski, etc.

Bike and foot trails
Choroszcz – Zawady – Baciuty – Dobrowoda – Turośń Dolna – Borowskie Michały – Suraż – Łapy – Płonka Kościelna – Stara Łupianka – Jeńki – Waniewo – Kurowo – Stare Jeżewo – Tykocin – Choroszcz Łapy Osse – Gąsówka-Osse – Płonka Kościelna – Płonka-Strumianka – Stara Łupianka – Bokiny – Jeńki – Waniewo – Kurowo – Stare Jeżewo Łapy Osse – Grochy – Turek – Pietkowo – Suraż
 * Szlak rowerowy czerwony.svg Red bike trail; the ring route of Narew National Park
 * POL Szlak czerwony.svg Red foot trail of Włodzimierz Puchalski – 36 km
 * POL Szlak zielony.svg Railwaymen's green foot trail

Economy
Until 2009, Łapy's economy was mainly based on the then functioning: Unfortunately for the town, both of the works have been closed.
 * sugar refinery, being one of the best in Poland and selling its sugar to inter alia Islamic countries and to the Middle East;
 * and Railway Fleet Repair Works.

There are plans to create a subzone of Tarnobrzeg Special Economic Zone. A corresponding bill has been submitted at The Cabinet.

The development of industrial economy in Łapy and its neighbourhood is hindered first of all by the close proximity of Narew National Park. On the other hand, the town has a potential for the tourism industry.

Historical buildings



 * St. Archangel Michael's parish church complex in Płonka Kościelna:
 * 1800 wooden chapel
 * c. 1905 brick church
 * c. 1905 fence and brick gate
 * Water tower in the complex of the railway station, built at the beginning of the 20th century
 * 1920s Etkun's House in Spółdzielcza Street
 * St. Peter and Paul's parish church complex:
 * 1920-27 brick gate
 * c. 1929 wooden presbytery
 * c. 1930 brick vicarage
 * 1920 chapel
 * St. Adalbert's parish church complex in Uhowo
 * Four wooden houses built in 1924 in the railwaymen's settlement Wygwizdowo
 * 27 brick houses built in the 1930s in the railwaymen's settlement Osse
 * Block group in Sikorskiego St. and Spółdzielcza St.
 * Market square

Memorials

 * The statue of Jan III Sobieski in the nearby village Płonka Kościelna
 * A stone dedicated to LTC Stanisław Nilski-Łapiński
 * The statue of Heroic Polish Children, dedicated to the children killed during the World War II

Graveyards

 * Historical church graveyard in Płonka Kościelna
 * Roman Catholic graveyard in Płonka Kościelna
 * Orthodox graveyard in Osse
 * Roman Catholic graveyard in Uhowo
 * Jewish cemetery in Łapy

Nature

 * Narew National Park
 * Bike and foot trails

Cuisine
The officially protected traditional food of Łapy (as designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland) is the klinek z Łap, a local type of traditionally produced quark.

Sport clubs and organisations

 * Pogoń Łapy, the town's main football club
 * UKS Olimp LO Łapy
 * UKS Łapa Łapy

Cultural organizations and associations

 * Łapskie Towarzystwo Regionalne

Kindergartens

 * Council Kindergarten nr 1, ul. Polna 27
 * Council Kindergarten nr 2, ul. Cmentarna 23

Primary schools

 * Primary school, ul. Jana Matejki 10 (managed by 'Edukator' association from Łomża)
 * Primary school nr 1, ul. Polna 9
 * Primary school nr 2, ul. Piękna 17
 * Primary school nr 3, ul. Letnia 1

Gymnasiums

 * Gymnasium nr 1, ul. Matejki 19
 * Gymnasium nr 2, ul. Letnia 1

High schools

 * High School nr 1, ul. Bohaterów Westerplatte 10
 * Vocational High Schools of Mechanics' Group, ul. Władysława Sikorskiego 68
 * Vocational High School
 * Basic Vocational School
 * High School nr 2
 * Specialised High School nr 2
 * Postgraduate School
 * High School for Adults
 * High School for Adult Remedial Education
 * Postgraduate School (extramural)

Prominent people

 * Józef Kosacki (1909–1990), Polish engineer, inventor, officer, who invented the first mine detector. His device was a significant contribution to the Allies' victory in World War II.
 * Waldemar Kikolski (1967–2001), Polish paralympic athlete born in Łapy

History literature concerning Łapy

 * Bitwy i potyczki 1863-1864, oprac. Stanisław Zieliński, Raperswil 1913.
 * Rocznik Statystyczny Królestwa Polskiego za 1913, Warszawa 1914.
 * Skorowidz miejscowości Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z oznaczeniem terytorialnie im właściwych władz i urzędów oraz urządzeń komunikacyjnych; Warszawa-Przemyśl 1933.
 * Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Warszawa 1887.
 * Księga adresowa Polski (wraz z W.M. Gdańskiem) dla handlu, przemysłu, rzemiosł i rolnictwa na 1930 r., Warszawa 1930.
 * J. Beszta Borowski, Pół wieku zarazy 1944-200. Moje zapiski faktów i refleksji, Komorów 2002.
 * S. Chankowski, Powstanie styczniowe w Augustowskiem, Warszawa 1972.
 * A. Dobroński, Infrastruktura społeczna i ekonomiczna guberni łomżyńskiej i obwodu białostockiego (1866–1914), Rozprawy Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 197, Białystok 1979.
 * Ł. Lubicz-Łapiński, Łapy i ich mieszkańcy. Zaścianki Łapińskich w XV-XVIII w., Białystok 2004.
 * S. Łaniec, Partyzanci żelaznych dróg w roku 1863, Warszawa 1974.
 * M. Olechnowicz, Z przeszłości Łap i okolic, z. 1, Łapy 1999.
 * J. Szumski, Łapy w latach 1862-1914, Białostocczyzna”, nr 1, 1997.
 * P. Sobieszczak, Poświętne wczoraj i dziś. Rys historyczny parafii i gminy do końca XX wieku., Łapy 2008.